Finding the New Woman
To write. [...] it will give her back her womanly being, giving her access to her native strength; it will giver her back her goods, her pleasures, her organs, her immense bodily territories which have been kept under seal...
I hope that Angela's story gave her some healing. I hope that it gave her her body back. By her making this film, she was trying to regain control and find insight. I think film-maker Angela's brother said it best when he said "I think you're searching for something... I hope you find it". I think that Finding Angela Sheldon is a story about finding yourself through common experiences with others. Trauma brings people together, and several Angelas in the documentary said that women need to stand together and be there and help each other out, because that's all we have. Angela's road trip was a journey to find her self, and ends in the, in my opinion, frustrating/maddening encounter with her father. Her father, who was supposed to always be her protector and lead male figure in her life; who only denied her accusations and dismissed her as well as them. Her reaction afterward was raw and emotional, and true to the film and herself. Angela's story, as well as all of the other Angela Sheldons', works against that which is now-entertainment of criminal dramas on TV or other pop culture. This is real life, where almost all of the Angela Sheldons that were found had been raped or otherwise victimized, yet had never seen their attackers be punished. In TV, you get used to seeing the criminal justice process go ao quickly, that the offenders are caught and punished within a 60 minute block. In Angela's story, these women had to rely mainly on themselves to heal and build themselves up. Frankly, I enjoyed the documentary just how it was. It was real, and emotional, and I felt for all these Angela Sheldons, and any other women like them.